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Brew n Que
02-09-2015, 12:11 PM
So, I've seen a few tutorials on here for the main BBQ meats, but nothing for burgers yet. So, I figured I would put together a tutorial for how I make mine. This is by no means the only way, but it does turn out an excellent burger if I do say so myself! Enjoy!

First, grind your own meat. That is probably the number 1 way to make a better burger. You can use a food processor if you don't have a grinder.

For the meat, I use a blend of sirloin, brisket, and oxtail. I found the mix on Serious Eats (look for the blue label burger blend), and I haven't yet found a better mix. Cut the meat into 1" cubes, mix them together to distribute the different cuts, and grind. If you are using a grinder, you will want to store the grinder parts in the freezer, and freeze the meat cubes for about 15 minutes. This ensures that the fat will be ground up, and not smeared when it goes through the grinder.

http://i.imgur.com/jkqLSigl.jpg

Once you have it ground, leave it be! Don't mix it or mash it or anything. The key to a great texture and juciness is to have meat that is not all smooshed together. I like 4 oz patties. Take 4 oz out of the bowl, and gently form it together into a patty. You should still see creases and individual meat strands in the patty.

http://i.imgur.com/8UJ2Clxl.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/g8ZuLjHl.jpg

I also like smashed burgers. In that case, the meat can be worked a bit, as you are more concerned with a good crust than you are with juciness or texture. Smashed burger patties get 2 oz of meat, formed into a puck.

http://i.imgur.com/N95li82l.jpg

As for seasoning, I typically do S&P only. The seasoning gets put on the outside JUST BEFORE HITTING THE HEAT. If you season a while before hand, you start to cure the meat and give it a sausage-like consistency. You can use any seasoning that you feel like, but do not mix it into the meat or you will ruin the patties' texture.

http://i.imgur.com/NL3JCZ3l.jpg

Now for the cooking (sorry for lack of pics). Get your grill or stove screaming hot. Put a griddle, cast iron pan, or some other flat top surface on the heat. In this case, I used a cast iron griddle. For the smashed burgers, do not lube the pan with anything. The goal with those is to smash them into perfect contact with the cooking surface to get an even crust on them. Season the puck and place it onto the surface. Take a stiff spatula and smash the puck down as thin as possible. After about 2 minutes, use a very thin bladed spatula to scrape the patty off the surface and flip. If you have done it right, there should be a beautiful crust on the entire side of the patty. Finish the other side for a minute or two. Here is a picture showing the crust on the smashed burgers. Notice the back right patty, where part of the crust peeled off and stayed with the pan.

http://i.imgur.com/YZtZZQdl.jpg

For the regular patties, place them onto the hot pan and just let them ride for a few minutes. Don't press down on them or anything. Flip, cook the other side, and remove at desired doneness (I like mine medium).

Now for the toppings. Some people try to be "experimental" or "creative" with their burgers, which is great. However, they tend to do it with the patties, which usually ends in failure. Toppings are where you can go crazy and not sacrifice quality. I like carmelized onions, so I made a batch. Other than that, I like raw onions, roma tomato, sharp cheddar cheese, green leaf lettuce, "special sauce", and a kings Hawaiian bun.

http://i.imgur.com/Eelw7Rel.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/i0gIiKAl.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/0c4Dpjvl.jpg

For the special sauce, it's just a mixture of mayo, mustard, ketchup, minced pickles, paprika, garlic powder, and cayenne.

Here is the finished product. Insanely juicy and beefy.

http://i.imgur.com/cWLC4Oal.jpg

PatAttack
02-09-2015, 01:38 PM
Nothing wrong with a burger tutorial!

Those look stellar!

Ron_L
02-09-2015, 01:44 PM
Thanks for the tutorial and pictures.

I'm not a fan of smashing burgers because it also smashes the juices out of them, but I know others like them that way.

eddieh70301
02-09-2015, 01:49 PM
I like smash burgers but also like a juicy/smoked burger too. I'll eat pretty much any burger.

Dr. Trout Bum
02-09-2015, 02:43 PM
nice work.

Brew n Que
02-09-2015, 02:45 PM
I like smash burgers but also like a juicy/smoked burger too. I'll eat pretty much any burger.

You can't see it from the pics, but that's why I put a regular patty, then the cheese, then stacked the smashed patty on top. Best of both worlds!:grin:

Ron_L
02-09-2015, 02:47 PM
I like smash burgers but also like a juicy/smoked burger too. I'll eat pretty much any burger.

True :-D I don't think I've ever turned down a burger :-D

Parm
02-09-2015, 03:32 PM
Every days a school day, defo gonna try the smashed burger recepie :)

bbqwilly
02-09-2015, 03:38 PM
Personally I'm a big juicy kind of guy.

But that looks amazing

pjtexas1
02-09-2015, 03:58 PM
I like the double burger idea. I am with Ron and Eddie, I will eat almost any burger and don't remember refusing one.

lantern
02-09-2015, 08:44 PM
Way to go on putting forth the effort to put together a tutorial. Some folks like to put onions, peppers and bread in their burgers as well, but I call that a meatloaf burger....and keep eating.:-D

I fixed my dilemma on the thick juicy vs smashed crusty thin burger. I LOVE a good crust on a burger and I like a thick juicy burger....sooooo I just eat double smashed burgers. Double the meat, double the crust......a happy day!:becky:


And, no, I don't turn down any burger.....

fingerlickin'
02-10-2015, 12:43 AM
Well done! Love a good burger. Sadly I rarely plan effectively enough to have time to grind my own. Or maybe I'm lazy, probably a combination. Grinding your own is great though, I'll have to try that meat combo. It's rare that Kenji will steer you wrong.

I think smashed burger are juicy, it's not like you're smashing them the whole time, you're pretty much smashing them raw so you're not driving much juice out, yet building that nice crust. The resulting greasy burger flavor more than makes up for any concern of lost juice IMO. Now I want some sliders.